What is the Catastrophic Risk due to natural disasters where your DR systems are hosted?  Considering all of the risk factors that could affect your company's systems can get exhausting.  When presenting the case for funding DR in your organization, it is good to come armed with questions and statistics that will identify the scope of your Disaster Recovery needs.   Some of these questions force companies to face hard facts:

·         Are there Business Continuity or Disaster Recovery regulations for your industry?  Gartner Group has identified some of them here: http://www.gartner.com/resources/128100/128123/laws_influence_business_cont_128123.pdf

·         Did you know that of companies that had a major loss of computerized records, 43% never reopen, 51% close within two years, and only 6% will survive long-term. (Cummings, Haag & McCubbrey 2005)?

·         In the 1993 WTC bombing, 150 businesses out of 350 affected failed to survive the event. Conversely, the firms affected by the Sept 11 attacks with well-developed and tested BCP manuals were back in business within days. (Howe School of Technology Management 2004.)  When were your DR procedures last tested?

·         In the case of fires, 44% of businesses fail to reopen and 33% of these failed to survive beyond 3 years. (IWS 2004.)  Do you understand your fire risk?

·         Finally, while the Sarbanes-Oxley act only applies to publicly traded companies, it has been used in court cases as a precedent to sanction the officers of privately held companies that have lost customer information. Will your DR strategy protect you against such a loss?


A DR solution hosted in a low-risk area can ameliorate some of the risk.  We chose Scottsdale, Arizona for our datacenter location because it is one of the most stable locations for a datacenter in the country.  Choosing the right site is an important part of conducting an implementation in accordance with the best practices for DR.  You should also consider the requirements driven by your technology and consistent with your business requirements.


Companies that create successful DR Strategies regularly evaluate DR risks and exercise their DR solutions at least on a semi-annual basis.  If you need help with your Disaster Recovery strategy, BestIT is here to help your company plan every step of the way.